Vale break Mosset Park curse with fine win
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DEVERONVALE ended 15 years of hurt at Mosset Park on Saturday as they deservedly defeated Forres Mechanics 2-1.
Goals from Colin Charlesworth and Robert Scott had Vale two ahead, before Stuart Soane’s late goal for the hosts made things interesting late on.
A relatively quiet opening half saw Vale keeper Grant Pennet deny James Ross and Callum Johnston before Jody Munro spurned a huge chance to give Vale the lead when he side-footed over from six yards.
But Colin Charlesworth made no mistake on 41 minutes, slotting nicely underneath Stuart Knight from inside the box.
Forres missed a big chance on 64 minutes when Johnston’s shot was deflected just wide and there was almost a calamity moment for Pennet as his clearance hit Robbie Duncanson – but the Forres midfielder’s shot rolled across the line from a tight angle.
Vale made Forres pay for those missed chances and, after a period of dominance, Colin Charlesworth broke down the right and played a perfect ball in for the unmarked Scott to tap in from six yards at the back-post for 2-0.
Mechanics rallied and had their best spell at the death. Stuart Soane pulled one back as he held the ball in, turned and fired into the top corner.
And the Cans almost levelled it a minute later through Declan Hughes, but his shot was blocked at close range and Vale held on to end a streak of 12 Forres wins over Vale.
Manager Steve Dolan was rightly delighted with his side’s win – their first against Forres since 2010, and first at Mosset Park since 2004.
He said: “It has been a long time coming. It gives us four wins in a row, but I think it’s a bigger thing for the club to get a win up here. It’s a massive weight off our shoulders. There has been a lot of good Vale teams and players that have come here and not got any wins.
“I think we deserved it and I’m just delighted for the lads. We have spoken about this place for years, we hate coming here, but we fully deserved our win.”
There’s no rest for the Vale players as they prepare to host Formartine United in the Aberdeenshire Shield tomorrow night.
That kicks off a run of three matches at Princess Royal Park, with Keith and Fraserburgh visitors in the Highland League.
Dolan added: “It doesn’t get much easier with Formartine, and then Keith – who are up and down much like ourselves.
“We have played really well this season and we have hit a run of games we targeted as winnable and have managed to win the four of them. Hopefully we can move on to Keith and keep it going.”
Meanwhile, Vale midfielder Dan Smith has joined Maud on a one-month loan.
